His wedding day.
I didn’t realize I’d stopped folding until Colby put a hand on my shoulder. “Why don’t I just finish all of this up.”
Not wanting to be the weak link, I shook my head no and kept on working in silence.
Once the closet was nearly empty, I moved over to the row of shelves in the back and grabbed another box sitting next to the linens. It broke open as soon as I pulled it forward, spilling the contents onto the floor in one big bright and traumatic heap.
“What the hell?” A buzzing sounded from beneath the pile, and then I looked back at the broken box.
In giant red letters it said “Burn Box.”
“What’s that noise?” Colby walked over, and immediately her cheeks turned bright red. “Oh my gosh. I totally forgot about this!”
“What is that sound—”
I picked up the towel that had fallen on top of the items making noise and recoiled so fast I knocked the rest of the towels off the shelf.
Colby burst out laughing as I stumbled backward and fell onto my ass. “Are those sex toys?” I asked.
“What else is shaped like a—”
“Don’t finish that sentence!” I pointed an accusing finger at her. “Make it go away!”
She just laughed harder, more tears running down her face. “Monica and Brooks liked it dirty!”
I was seriously going to cut off my own ears.
“Please, Colby. I’m begging you. Make them disappear. I will never unsee this!”
Colby reached into the pile.
“That’s not even close to being sanitary!” I swatted her hand away. “Don’t touch anything, oh shit, I think I’m going to puke.”
Colby fell back onto the floor laughing. “This is my favorite moment ever!”
“It’s not funny!” I said, momentarily horrified.
“Oh, it’s hilarious.”
“At least turn off the vibrator!”
Her grin took on a wicked quality. “Nah, I think it adds to the current mood, right?”
I glared, and she switched it off with a sigh and a red face.
“Why the hell would they need this many sex toys? There’s at least seven different types of… devices.”
Colby grinned. “Huh. I never knew you were such a prude.”
“I’m not! It’s just, it’s my sister! And nobody wants to think about those… things.” I cleared my throat. “You know, with their sister, and can we stop talking about this now? I’m already going to have nightmares for life.”
As if ignoring me, Colby kept talking. “It’s funny, we always had these ridiculous conversations where we went over what to burn or what to take care of if anything happened to us.” Tears filled her eyes. “But this? I never imagined this.” She swiped her cheeks. “She was good, you know? Hilarious. Just such a good person.”
I put a hand on Colby’s shoulder and said, “She was the best.”
“The very best.”
“She also chose the best.”